Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Strengthening environmental civil sanctions

Lord Benyon: My Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Rebecca Pow) has made the following Statement.Protecting our natural environment is a government priority. The government is pleased to announce today that we have laid new secondary legislation to strengthen environmental civil sanctions and provide the environmental regulators with the tools they need to hold operators to account.Currently, there is a cap of £250,000 on variable monetary penalties imposed by the environmental regulators for a wide range of offences. We are removing this cap to make the penalty unlimited, so that penalties are proportionate to the degree of environmental harm and culpability. Strong safeguards are in place, including the ability of an offender to pay, when regulators determine the size of penalties. The Environment Agency will use the independent Sentencing Council guidelines to underpin all penalties.Strengthening regulations that ensure polluters will be held to account is part of our wider plan to reduce pollution and protect the biodiversity and ecology of our natural environment. All funding from fines and penalties handed out to water companies that pollute our rivers and seas will be invested in schemes that benefit our natural environment.We know that people across the country want to see more progress in tackling pollution and if operators breach regulations, our environmental regulators need the right powers to impose penalties. These new penalty changes will deter organisations from polluting and increase their incentive to comply with environmental regulations.We are also introducing unlimited variable monetary penalties as a civil sanction for offences under the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016, to ensure regulators have the right tools to drive compliance across a range of sectors and breaches.This announcement follows our recent consultation, first announced in the Plan for Water, on strengthening the enforcement regime where the overwhelming majority of responses from the public supported our proposals. These changes complement a suite of government action underway to better hold water companies to account, including new powers for Ofwat that will enable it to take enforcement action against water companies that do not link dividend payments to performance for both customers and the environment. More details can be found in the attached annex.Together, these changes will provide a proportionate deterrent and punishment for operators who breach their permits and will help regulators to better protect the environment going forwards.The civil sanction regime for environmental offences should act as a clear deterrent to offenders across all industries, from water companies to waste operators - we will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found we will not hesitate to hold companies to account. Annex 1 As set out in the government’s Plan for Water, we are driving action to strengthen regulation and drive improvements across the water sector, including: More investment£2.2 billion of accelerated investment by water companies, to spend on new infrastructure to tackle pollution and increase our water resilience – including £1.7 billion on storm overflow improvements to cut discharges by 10,000 per yearCreating a new Water Restoration Fund, using money from water company fines and penalties to support local environmental projectsDelivering long-term catchment action plans – community-led schemes which aim to improve waterways and surrounding eco-systems – to improve water bodies in EnglandMore than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure by increasing funding to £34 million for farmers to improve slurry storage, reducing a major source of water pollution.Supporting farmers to store more water on their land through the £10 million Water Management Grant to fund more on-farm reservoirs and better irrigation equipment. Stronger regulationConsulting on banning the sale of plastic wet wipesEnabling key water supply infrastructure – such as reservoirs and water transfer schemes – to be built more quicklyBringing forward the deadline for water companies to reduce chemicals in wastewater treatment to 2027Consulting on extending environmental permits to cover dairy and intensive beef farms, and to improve how this is done for pig and poultry farms, in order to better manage sources of pollution Tougher enforcementEnabling Ofwat to link dividends to company performance, and tightening up measures on water bosses’ bonusesOfwat have also announced measures to penalise companies who fail to properly monitor storm overflows and determined that in the financial year 2023-34, the water sector must return £132m to customers as a result of underperformance

Department for Education

Early Years Update

Baroness Barran: My Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing (Claire Coutinho) has made the following statement.From 4 July 2022 to 16 September 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) consulted on the following proposed amendments to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework:a change to the current statutory minimum staff:child ratios in England for 2-year-olds from 1:4 to 1:5;clarifying that childminders can care for more than the currently-specified maximum of three young children, when caring for siblings of children they already care for, or when caring for their own child; andclarifying that “adequate supervision” while children are eating means that children must be within sight and hearing of an adult (rather than the current wording of “sight or hearing”). Alongside the consultation, the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and Frontier Economics (commissioned by DfE) conducted a study with early years providers to assess the impact of the proposed changes.In the government response to the consultation, published in March 2023, we announced we would be proceeding with the proposed changes to ratios, childminder flexibilities and supervision while eating. Today, on 12 July 2023, we have laid a Statutory Instrument (SI) in both Houses to amend the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework (EYFS) to make the changes referenced above. These changes will come into force from 4 September 2023. The updated version of the EYFS (which will apply from 4 September 2023) is available on GOV.UK, alongside the current version of the EYFS (which still applies until 4 September 2023). A full impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations. It is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the SI on the OPSI website https://www.legislation.gov.uk. In the Written Ministerial Statement published on 7 July we also announced additional funding to uplift the rates for the existing entitlements from September 2023. We will be investing £204 million of additional funding in 2023-24 and £288 million in 2024-25. For 2023-24, this means we will effectively increase the funding rates that local authorities receive by an average of 32% for the current 2-year-old entitlement, and by an average of 6.3% for 3-4-year-old entitlements, compared to their current 2023-24 rates. Further detail can be found in that Statement.

Department of Health and Social Care

Independent Review into the North East Ambulance Service Trust Update

Lord Markham: My Hon friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy) (Maria Caulfield) has made the following Written Statement: Following a request by the Department of Health and Social Care, in May 2022, NHS England commissioned an Independent Review into concerns raised about compliance with coronial processes at North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. Today, NHS England published the findings from this Review.I am grateful to Dame Marianne Griffiths for chairing this Review and for the work she and her team have undertaken into investigating this important issue. The Review was tasked with examining patient safety and governance processes at the Trust which included consideration of previous investigations and reports on this matter. I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this Review – the families and the staff – whose participation will enable lessons to be learnt.The Review found that significant leadership, cultural and behaviour issues contributed to the overall failings experienced by the families. For example, appropriate documentation was not provided to HM Coroners and, when submitted as part of the coronial process, documents had been amended to downgrade a serious incident into an event needing lesser scrutiny. This Review makes 18 recommendations which cover governance, leadership, culture, and commissioning. The Report has been published on NHS England’s website and is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-east-yorkshire/our-work/publications/ind-investigation-reports/In the last decade, the Government has introduced substantial measures to reduce harm to patients, including a statutory duty of candour, legal protections for whistle-blowers, medical examiners across the NHS and legislation to establish the Health Services Safety Investigations Body. It is important that the right processes are put in place by trusts to make sure safeguards are properly implemented and there is continuous learning.NHS England has also introduced a Patient Safety Strategy which sets out how the NHS will support staff and providers to share safety insight and empower people – patients and staff – with the skills, confidence and mechanisms to improve safety. I also welcome the National Guardian Office’s Review, published in February, into speaking up in ambulance trusts to ensure that ambulance services are a safe place to work, and staff feel confident and supported when issues need to be raised. Action includes the NHS launching an independent review into broader cultural issues in ambulance trusts.Ambulance services are receiving £200 million of additional funding this year to grow capacity and improve response times, alongside 800 new ambulances, including specialist mental health ambulances. We have also made significant investment in the ambulance workforce, with the number of NHS ambulance staff and support staff increasing by over 40% since 2010.Alongside the Review report, the Trust has issued an Assurance Statement and I am pleased that both the Trust and the Integrated Care Board have accepted the findings and recommendations and have set out some of the work already in train to address the concerns.I will continue to work with the Trust and NHS England to address the concerns raised in Dame Marianne’s Review and ensure that lessons are learnt to improve patient safety across the wider healthcare system.A copy of the Report will be deposited in the libraries of both Houses.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Sudan update

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: My Right Honourable Friend, the Minister of State (Development and Africa) (Andrew Mitchell), has made the following Written Ministerial Statement: On 12 July, in response to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the UK announced a package of six sanctions under the Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. We are freezing the assets of three commercial entities linked to each party involved in the conflict: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), headed by Al Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), headed by Hemedti. The SAF and RSF have dragged Sudan into a wholly unjustified war, which they are prosecuting with utter disregard for their people, and for which they should be accountable. UK sanctions on those entities which the SAF and RSF have used to finance their war effort are designed with a specific purpose – to press the parties to engage in sustained and meaningful progress to peace (including stepping aside from power), allow in humanitarian assistance, and end atrocities. Both the SAF and the RSF own and control vast commercial empires which provide them with economic resources and weapons so they can keep fighting. We have imposed six asset freezes on commercial entities in total, three operating under the authority of each party. Acting with partners including the US, which designated four of the same entities on 1 June, the sanctions will send a strong message of international condemnation to both parties to the conflict. As there is a humanitarian exemption in our Sudan sanctions regulations, exempting funds destined for humanitarian aid from an asset freeze, we do not anticipate that the sanctions will impact humanitarian assistance in the region. We will monitor this closely. The full list of designations is as follows: Al-Junaid, large RSF-owned conglomerate set up by Hemedti which made him the richest man in Sudan. Provides financial backing for the militia, enabling it to continue the conflict.GSK Advance Company Ltd – a key front company owned by RSF funding the militia and enabling it to purchase material.Tradive General Trading co. - a company associated with the RSF, supplying it with funds and materiel such as vehicles retrofitted with machine guns for the RSF to patrol the streets.Defense Industries Systems (‘DIS’) – the large SAF-owned conglomerate, which provides the finances for Al Burhan to continue fighting.Sudan Master Technology – a Sudanese company involved in the sale of arms with close commercial ties to Defense Industries System, the economic and manufacturing arm of the SAF which supplies it with funds and equipment.Zadna International Company for Investment Limited – a subsidiary of SAF-owned DIS, reported to be one of its top three ‘major earners’.

Department for Work and Pensions

National Disability Strategy Update

Viscount Younger of Leckie: My honourable Friend, the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work (Tom Pursglove MP) has made the following Written Statement.In January 2022, the High Court declared that the National Disability Strategy was unlawful. This was because the UK Disability Survey, which was used to inform it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements (‘Gunning Principles’) on public consultations. The Government was granted permission to appeal this judgment and the appeal hearing was held on Wednesday 28 June 2023. The Court of Appeal handed down its judgment at 11am yesterday, 11 July 2023.I am pleased to inform the House that the Court of Appeal found in favour of the Government. This means that both the UK Disability Survey and the National Disability Strategy have now been found to be lawful by the Court of Appeal, and we are able to continue with the important work of implementing this long-term strategy to transform disabled people’s everyday lives for the better.We need to take stock of what this decision means for individual National Disability Strategy commitments and evaluate how best to move forward. I will provide a further update in September to set out our next steps in more detail.The Government will also continue to move forward with our planned consultation on the Disability Action Plan over the summer. The Disability Action Plan and the National Disability Strategy were always intended to be complementary, with the former focusing on concrete, short-term actions deliverable in 2023/24 to improve disabled people’s lives, and the latter setting out our longer-term vision, and I am delighted that we are now able to make progress on both of them.I have consistently heard from disabled people themselves, and from disability stakeholders, that they want to see action on the important commitments set out in the National Disability Strategy. I am pleased that we are now able to move forward again with this ambitious agenda, and I look forward to working with colleagues across the House to drive joined-up, effective action across Government, which will truly transform disabled people’s lives for the better.